Jennifer Grey reveals why Dirty Dancing almost finished differently

Of all the Dirty Dancing songs that are still enjoyed today, ‘Time of my Life’ is probably the best loved and most well known.

The soundtrack for the iconic final dance, the powerful ballad sees Johnny, played by the late and great Patrick Swayze, sweep Baby, played by actress Jennifer Grey, off her feet in a triumphant display of love and passion in front of her parents and the other guests at the holiday camp. As we all know by now, nobody puts Baby in the corner!

However, leading lady Jennifer Grey has recently revealed that the most famous move in the whole dance sequence, that spectacular final lift, almost never made the final cut of the film! The reason? Well, it was all because of Patrick Swayze!

The actor suffered from a debilitating knee injury that forced him to leave his career on Broadway behind. This same knee injury caused havoc during the filming of Dirty Dancing, causing Patrick constant pain and problems during the routines. He also found it agonising lifting even small and slight Jennifer Grey during the dance sequences.

However, ever the professional, Patrick persevered with the performances. His focus and reluctance to let his injury slow him down meant that the final dance routine could go ahead as planned, and that infamous final lift was captured on film.

The actress, now 56-years-old, also revealed that the famous dance routine was much harder than she and Patrick made it look to perform. Not only was the dance physically demanding, but the actors also had to contend with a freshly painted set!

Jennifer revealed:

“I remember doing the big dance finale and they had just ­painted the stage and it was sticky.”

“The paint would stick to my feet so I couldn’t turn. All the extras were sitting around, just hundreds of people, watching you about to fall on your face.”

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